Doctors missing signs of HIV

5th October 2012

A new audit has revealed that doctors are too often missing the signs that patients may be infected with HIV.

The British HIV Association (BHIVA), which represents professionals in HIV care, has revealed its latest audit of HIV testing and diagnosis in the UK in a study published in the RCP journals Clinical Medicine. It found that 52.2% of patients were diagnosed HIV positive after they had already shown evidence of a damaged immune system and overall 25% of patients missed an opportunity for their HIV infection to be detected earlier because they were not offered an HIV test.